It's very likely that Donald Trump sealed his victory with the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania in July of 2024.  His astonishing reaction turned some never-Trumpers into supporters.  It's also possible that Zohran Mamdani's hope to be New York City's next mayor ended one year later when a crazed gunman killed four people in midtown Manhattan.  

 

Admittedly, this prediction may not age very well.  According to a new poll, Mamdani is en route to an easy victory over Mayor Eric Adams, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.  Mamdani is sitting - and smiling - pretty with 50% of the vote, and his Wednesday press conference reaffirmed that he is a tremendously slick and attractive candidate.

 

But consider that the poll was taken before a police officer was executed in that midtown massacre, an immigrant from Bangladesh with a wife, two children, and another on the way.  And before New Yorkers witnessed the outpouring of grief by other cops, who are called 'New York's Finest' for a reason.  They are the men and women who protect citizens from mayhem and anarchy and death.

 

Then consider some of Zohran Mamdani's past slanders.   Here's one of his lovely tweets: 'The NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.'  Mamdani repeatedly endorsed the lefty mantra, 'Defund the police.'  The Z-man also displayed his stark racism:  'Black + brown solidarity will overcome white supremacy.'  He proudly gave the middle-finger salute to a statue of Christopher Columbus and demanded that it be torn down.  Arrivederci, Italian vote.

 

Mamdani seems to cherish Marxist slogans.  'Each according to their need, each according to their ability,' he wrote.  And he declared that the ultimate goal is 'seizing the means of production.'  C'mon, the guy makes Bill de Blasio look like Rudy Giuliani.  Thus, the questions: Are those 50% aware of his ultra-extreme positions, and who can stop the Mamdani juggernaut?  That depends on who stays in, who drops out, who shows up to debate, and how voters react when anti-Mamdani ads start filling the airwaves.  Sure, he is the favorite of 20- and 30-something white college grads, but he'll need more than just the young swells.  And while he undoubtedly has a lock on the Criminal-American community, they don't usually flock to the polls.

 

So will the nation's most important city, the capital of finance, media, and advertising, really elect a 33-year-old red-behind-the-ears, Israel-hating rich kid?  We doubt it, but perhaps that's a terminal case of wishful thinking.